Gathering Together: A Sharing of Song, Poetry and Languages

Iona Fyfe and Anne McMaster in conversation with Helen Mark

Ahead of the launch on 30 June of The Linen Hall’s Ulster-Scots Writing competition – now in its fifth year – we are delighted to welcome award-winning Aberdeenshire folksinger and fierce advocate for the Scots language, Iona Fyfe. Join Iona and acclaimed poet Anne McMaster, an equally fierce advocate for Ulster-Scots, for a conversation around the rich linguistic and cultural inheritance of Scots and Ulster-Scots, interspersed with generous helpings of poetry and song. The night will be expertly chaired by presenter and broadcaster, Helen Mark.

Aberdeenshire folksinger, Iona Fyfe, has become one of Scotland’s finest singers, rooted deeply in the singing traditions of the North East of Scotland. In 2021, she became the first singer to win the coveted title of Musician of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. A two-time winner of Scots Singer of the Year, Iona has performed across Europe, the US, Canada and Australia. Iona is a fierce advocate for the official recognition of the Scots Language, leading a successful campaign to pressure Spotify into recognising Scots and add it to its list of languages. Honoured at the Scots Language Awards with the title of Speaker of the Year in 2021, Iona performs both folk and pop songs in the Scots language, remaining true to her rooting in tradition. Iona has featured in several publications including The Sunday Post, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Times. She won the title of Scots Singer of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in 2018 and was described as “one of the best Scotland has to offer.”  (Global-Music.de)

A former farmer, lecturer, playwright and theatre director, Anne McMaster writes in both English and Ulster Scots. She makes short films, publishes and reads her poetry internationally and works as a professional voiceover artist. In the BBC1 documentary ‘Out of the Silence’, Anne explored her own journey as an Ulster-Scots writer and discovered both known and unknown female Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland. Anne has produced three poetry collections in English: ‘Walking Off the Land’, ‘Moments’ and ‘Unexpected Item in the Bagging Area’, all by Hedgehog Poetry Press. ‘Póames’ – poetry in Ulster Scots – was published by the Ulster Scots Agency and Ulster Scots Community Network. Anne has two new poetry collections coming in 2025 and an illustrated collection of Ulster-Scots lullabies. She’s currently working on her first drama for radio.

Helen Mark is the presenter of BBC Radio Ulster’s weekly Ulster-Scots magazine programme, Kintra.